Figments
by Tofu-Monstrosity
Summary: Figments of her imagination. That's all they really are. AU one-shot.


**Little fic that's been bugging me for a whole day.**

**I don't own NCIS or any affiliates.**

"Alright, who's in next?" The doctor rubs her temples.

"Scuito case" The male receptionist hands the psychiatrist the file. The doctor skims through it, her eyes mechanically hitting key words she's been trained to look for in the file.

"I see. Thank you Jimmy. What room is she in?" Dr. Devin asks.

"Room 3" He states, going back to his paperwork. Dr. Devin turns on her heel but then stops as she hears her receptionist sigh.

"How's Breena doing?" She asks, immediately the receptionist lights up at the mention of his wife.

"She's doing well doctor. 5 months along already, it's a boy this time" The receptionist's smile lights up his face.

"Good, tell her I said hi." And with that Dr. Devin disappears down the hallway and into room 3. She opens the door and closes it curtly behind her. In the room with the doctor is a young woman no more than 27 years of age. She sits on the floor, ignoring the couch and playing with various stuffed toys. "Hi Abby" The doctor sits in the chair. The young woman looks up briefly and then back down again. Dr. Devin looks at the file, "Do you mind if I call you Abs?" the doctor asks.

"No." The young woman snaps, jerking her head upright so that her black pigtails swing.

"And why not?" Asks the doctor.

"Only Gibbs calls me that…" The young woman mutters.

"And who is Gibbs?" The young woman is silent before holding up a stuffed little wolf.

"This."

"Oh yeah? Well tell me about him"

"He is nice to me. He always gets me things," The doctor starts to write things down. _The "Gibbs" character bears is the opposite personality traits of her actual father. _

"Would Gibbs ever hurt anybody?"

"He did once." The young woman states and says nothing more.

"He did? Would you care to tell me what he did?" The doctor writes. _Patient seems to have channeled biological father into that of the "Gibbs" character._

"His wife and daughter were killed by a bad man." She states.

"And this bad man? Does he have a name?"

"Pedro Hernandez"

"And what happened to Pedro?"

"Gibbs shot him." The doctor writes again. _Ms. Scuito seems to draw a connection between the "Gibbs" character and her father. Making the "Gibbs" character have all of the qualities the father. _

"Ok, then who is this?" Dr. Devin points to the little stuffed German Sheppard dog sitting catty corner from "Gibbs"

"Tony." She states simply.

"Ok, and tell me who Tony is."

"He's very special senior field agent"

"Ok, what does he do?"

"He goes on assignments like Tim and Ziva do with Gibbs!" The young woman gets very defensive and scared. Dr. Devin gets out of her chair and sits on the floor with the young woman.

"I just want to know what they all do Abby." The Doctor picks up the little German Sheppard.

"He doesn't like that you know."

"What doesn't he like?"

"To be played."

"Oh? And how does that work out for him?" Dr. Devin goes back to her notes.

"He's been hurt by lots of women. He was engaged once, and he really liked Kate too." Abby explains and takes the little German Sheppard from the doctor's hand. _Ms. Scuito seems to divert all sexual emotions into the "Tony" figure. _

"Well, what else has he done? Abby, can you tell me that?" The doctor coaxes more out of the young woman.

"He was rich but his dad was mean to him." _Father issues are starting to become apparent but Ms. Scuito will still not admit to what happened 15 years ago. _

"Ok. Tell me who Kate is," The doctor picks up a little black cat sitting across from "Tony". "Is this Kate?" The young woman snatches the cat out of the doctor's hands.

"No! That's Ziva. Kate is dead." _Ms. Scuito seems to understand the concept of death._

"Ok. How did she die?"

"She was shot in the head by Ari." _Ms. Scuito makes the connection between the "Kate" figure and her mother's death._

"Ok, then tell me who Ari is." _She mentions characters I have never heard her talk about before. _

"Ziva's half brother" the young women pets the cat figure.

"And that's Ziva?" The doctor points to the cat. The young woman nods and places the cat back down in her place across from "Tony" and next to "Gibbs".

"And what does Ziva do?" The doctor looks back at her notes.

"Tony says she can kill you 6 ways with a paperclip" The young woman chuckles to herself. "But she's nice." _It seems her defensive emotions is attuned to the "Ziva" figure. _

"Ok, well what happened to Ari?"

"Ziva killed him because he was going to kill Gibbs."

"I see, so Ari is dead too?"

"Uh-huh"

"Ok, then who is this?" Dr. Devin picks up the little elf doll siting next to "Tony" and across from "Gibbs".

"That's Timmy"

"Ok, what does Timmy do?"

"He likes computers, but Tony makes fun of him a lot." Dr. Devin watches Abby move the little figures around. She notices one sitting out from the rest.

"Who's this guy?" Dr. Devin points at the little stuffed duck sitting away from the rest.

"That's Ducky" Abby smiles a little as she pets him. "He's a medical examiner." _Ms. Scuito's "Ducky" character has the same job as her biological mother had._

"Ok, and what's his story?"

"He's Scottish. He lived with his ailing mother until she died." _Parallel between "Ducky's" mother and her own._

"And what happened to the fox? She was here last time we talked." Dr. Devin asks, looking at a previous session's notes.

"She died."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What was her name?"

"Director Sheppard, Gibbs called her Jen." Dr. Devin looks at her notes to confirm that this is right. It is.

"What happened to Director Sheppard, Abby?"

"She died."

"Yes, how?"

"She died."

"But how Abby?"

"She got shot!" the young woman stands up, visibly upset.

"Who shot her Abby?"

"Bad people…"

"Was Gibbs upset by this?"

"He loved her"

"Oh, I see. What was the place Director Sheppard worked for?"

"NCIS"

"Ok, what does that stand for?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Why are you asking?"

"I wanted to know so I can look around."

"You're here." _Ms. Scuito thinks the hospital is "NCIS"_.

"And you work at NCIS, is that why you call your room your "lab"?"

"Are you done?"

"You didn't answer the question." Dr. Devin looks back at her notes.

"No! No more questions! If you have anymore questions talk to Gibbs." The young woman sits on the floor with her arms crossed.

"Ok, that's enough for today. I'll have an agent take you back to your lab." The young woman doesn't say anything but goes back to moving the stuffed playthings.

Dr. Devin closes the door to room 3 and returns to the front desk, setting the file down.

"Well, any new progress on the Scuito case?" The receptionist asks as he starts to pack up his things.

"None. She still lives in that fantasy world she made up, the whole NCIS thing and all of the characters."

"That reminds me of that girl we had in that one time, the one who thought she was a superhero" The receptionist chuckles as he turns off his desk lamp. Dr. Devin does not budge from her spot leaning up against the desk.

"What I can't understand is how elaborate her world is. Each of her little toy characters has their own personality, their own background."

"Doctor, you said so yourself it's how she copes with seeing her father kill her mother in cold blood." The receptionist grabs his coat.

"Yes, but why make up a whole new family?" Dr. Devin asks as the receptionist looks over the security cameras installed all over the psych ward and gets ready for the night shift.

"You're the doctor, not me." The receptionist heads for the door. "Goodnight Dr. Devin." He says before leaving.

Dr. Devin still leans up against the desk and pulls out her first notes when she started working with Abigail Scuito.

_Due to extreme stress incurred upon her in childhood, Abigail Scuito created a separate world to live in where the people in it care about her. These people are figments of her imagination set to help her cope with the murder-suicide of her mother and father when she was 12. _

Dr. Devin's eyes stopped at the word "figments"; to Abigail they are real people. NCIS is a real place and she really is a forensic scientist. Dr. Devin closes the file and sets it back in alphabetical order the way her receptionist Jimmy Palmer likes it.

Dr. Devin collects her things from her office and locks the door. The stress of the day is beginning to wash away as she heads towards the front door. Figments, that's all they are.


End file.
